Ruffling attachment for sewing machines



Sept- 16 1947.

v. .1. SIGODA RUFFLING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Original Filed Nov. 6, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 as r lNVENTOR.

I Vlcrcmd 5/6001! BY K ATTORNEY Sept. 16, 19 47.

' V. J. SlGODA RUFFLING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Original Filed Nov. 6, 1941 2 SheetS-Shee t 2 INVENTOR. V/c TOR L/. 5/6001! 7! 'A T TORNEX Patented Sept. 16,1947

RUFFLING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING HINES Victor J. Sigoda, Great Neck, N. Y., assignor to Man-Sew Corp., New York, N. Y., a corpora- MAC tion of New York Substituted for abandoned application Serial No. 417,996, November 6, 1941. This application April 2, 1945, Serial No. 586,237 7 Claims. (01. 112-134) This invention relates to ruffling or gathering attachment for sewing machines and has for its general object and purpose to provide certain improvements in rufiling attachments of the type shown and described in Patents No. 2,233,752, March kl, 1941, and No. 2,245,877, June 17, 1941, in which the operating mechanism for the oscillatory ruffiing blade is operatively arranged in a housing of minimum dimensionsand means is providedfor facilitating the mounting of said housing upon the rear side of the conventional sewing machine arm and its easy and quick adjustment relative thereto to accurately position the rufliing blade relative to the sewing machine presser foot and whereby the operator is afiorded a clear, unobstructed vision of the work.

It is a more particular object of the invention to provide an improved construction of the attachment housing with means which enables me to utilize the mounting for the conventional presser foot adjusting lever as a single point of oscillatory support for the housing at the rear side of the sewing machine arm, together with means for rigidly locking the housing in adjusted relation to said arm and the vertically reciprocating needle bar.

It is also anadditional object of the invention to provide a rufliing attachment having the above noted advantages and in which the operating mechanism for the oscillatory ruliiing blade as shown in said issued patents is simplified and greater operating efficiency realized.

The present application is a substitute for abandoned application Serial No. 417,996 filed November 6,1941.

With the above andother objects in view, the invention consists in the improved ruifiing attachment for sewing machines in the form, construction and relative arrangement of the several parts as will hereinafter be more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and subsequently incorporated in the subjoined claims.

In the drawings wherein I have disclosed one simple and practical embodiment of the invention and in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a sewing machine of standard make having one embodiment of the present invention applied thereto, the needle bar guide head of'the sewing machine arm being omittedj r Figure 2 is an end elevation, the face plate of the attachment housing being removed andthe sewing machine arm shown in section; k

Figure 3 is a front side elevation of the sewing machine arm with the attachment applied thereto, a part of the latter being shown in section;

Figure 4 i a transverse sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3, and

Figure 5 is an end elevation illustratin the mounting of parts of the operating connections between the attachment and the main shaft of the sewing machine.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 5 indicates the usual hollow sewing machine arm extending horizontally from the upper end of the vertical pedestal 6 which is integrally formed with or suitably mounted upon the machine bed plate 1, adapted to be attached to and supported by a sewing machine table in the usual manner.

The'other end of the arm 5 is provided with theusual guide head 8 for the vertically reciprocating needle bar 9 and the presser foot bar H3. The main operating shaft I l is suitably mounted within the arm 5 and. driven by the usual motor (not shown); by means of a driving belt engaged with the belt wheel l2 fixed to one end of said shaft. At its opposite end within the guide head 8, the shaft H is operatively connected by conventional actuating means with the needle bar 9.

It will be understood that while, for the purposes of the present explanation, I have shown my attachment as applied to a well known standard type of single needle sewing machine, it may also be advantageously used in connection with multiple needle or zigzag sewing machines of the several makes now in common use.

The attachment which forms the subject matter of the present invention embodies a housing I4 having an upright end portion l5 adapted'to be positioned at the rear side of thesewing machine arm 5 and the obliquely inclined portion l6 extending downwardly and forwardly beneath the said arm. One side of this housing is open and is adapted to be closed by a removable face plate H. 'To the side wall of the upright end portion I5 of said housing the vertical leg l8, of an L-shaped bar is welded or otherwise rigidly secured, the horizontal arm I!) of said bar being adapted to extend forwardly beneath the sewing machine arm 5.

The rear side of the arm 5 is provided with the usual integrally formed boss 20 having a threaded bore toreceive a bolt upon which the,

screws 23 and 24, respectively, which are threaded in the horizontal arm I!) for bearing contact upon the under side of the sewing machine arm 5. It will be noted, from reference to Figure 3 of the drawings that screw 23 is spaced from one side of the vertical plane passing through the axis of the boss 29 while the screw 24 is located adjacent to said plane at the opposite side thereof. Thus by first loosening one of the screws and adjusting the other screw against the arm 5, the housing structure may be bodily rocked about the axis of the supporting bolt in either direction to vertically position the same relative to the arm and accurately locate the oscillatory rufliing blade with respect to the sewing machine presser foot. The housing is then rigidly locked in such adjusted position by adjusting both screws into binding contact against the arm 5.

The mounting and arrangement of the rufliing blade and the actuating mechanism therefor within the housing is in many respects quite similar to that disclosed in Patent 2,245,877, above referred to, but in certain details thereof has been improved and simplified in the interest of greater operating efiiciency. Thus, in the lower front end of the housing the relatively oscillatable shaft 25 and sleeve 25 are mounted, said shaft and sleeve at one of their ends extending through an opening provided in the face plate I! of the housing and being suitably mounted at their other ends in bearing means on the inner side wall of said housing. To the projecting end of the shaft 25, a member 271 is rigidly fixed and has a depending channeled portion 28 within which the upper end of the arm 29 is securely fixed by means of thescrew 30. fling blade Si is yieldably pivoted at one of its ends as at 32 and extends rearwardly therefrom toward the presser foot 33.

To the corresponding end of the sleeve 25 the downwardly extending arm 36- is fixed and is adapted to cooperate with an upwardly project-. ing part 35 on the pivoted end of the rufiling blade 3| in the same manner as disclosed in my issued patent.

The actuating means for the rufiling blade 31 includes a rock shaft 36 mounted at one of its ends in the rear wall of the housing structure and having fixed thereto an angular bracket member 31 to which one end of a rod 38 is rigidly connected. This rod is slidably engaged with the block 39, which in turn is slidably connected with the slotted lever is fixed at one of its ends by means of the screws 41 to an arm 42 which is rigidly connected with the oscillatory shaft 25. Substantially the same means is provided for adjusting the slide block Bilto regulate the stroke of the rufliing blade or for rendering the same inoperative when desired, as that shown in the issuedPa-tent 2,2i5,877, comprising the rock shaft 53 mounted at one of its ends in a suitable bearing on the housing wall Upon the lower end of this arm, the ruf 4 and at its other end in a bearing M on the cover plate 4 5 for an access opening in the rear side wall of the arm 5. To the end of the shaft 43 within the housing one end of an arm 46 is rigidly fixed, the other end "thereof being connected by the link 1? with the slide block 39.

There is also fixed to the end of shaft 43 a relatively short arm 13 with which the curved .upper end of lever 59 is rigidly connected by has one of its ends exerting downward bearing pressure on the arm' lfi and its other end bearing against the top wall of the housing structure as clearly shown in Figure 2. This spring tends to yieldingly resist rocking motion of the shaft 43 in one direction.

Exteriorly of the housing structure an arm is fixed at one end to the shaft 3 and at its other end is formed with a slotted quadrant 5E5 movable upon the stud 5i fixed in the housing wall. This stud has a threaded section receiving the clamping member 57' whereby the quadrant 55 may be fixed in any predetermined adjusted position. 7

To the other end of the rock shaft 33 a lever arm 58 is fixed at one of its end and may be connected with a suitable foot treadle (not shown). Thus, as in the issued Patent 2,245,877, by loosening the clamping member 57, shaft 43' may be rocked against the resistance of spring 54 and through arm 46 and link 41, the slide block 3% is thereby moved along the lever 40 to a neutral position in coaxial relation with the shaft 36 so that in the rocking motion of said shaft no movement will be transmitted to the ruliiing blade 35. This is desirable, in the execution of intermittent ruiiling or gathering during the sewing operation. The stroke of the rufiiing blade may be regulated in accordance with the desired width of the ruffles by operating the shaft 53 to move the slide block 39 and position the'same relative to the axis of shaft 35 as determined by the proper adjustment of the graduated quadrant 56.

In the movement of the slide block 39 to neutral position, the lower end of lever e9 moves in a downward are from the axis of shaft 43, thereby actuating lever iii to rock the sleeve 26 and cause the arm 34 to engage the member 35 and lift the free end of rufiiing blade 36 upwardly out of contact with the material.

While any desired means may be provided for transmitting motion to the rock shaft '36 from the needle operating shaft H, as herein shown, I provide the belt wheel l2 with a hub portion 59 which extends within the open side of a suitably formed housing 59 on the upper end of an arm 6! which is rigidly bolted or otherwise fixed as at 62 to the pedestal '6 of the sewing machine. The right hand end of rock shaft 35 is suitably supported in one end of said housing and to the same one end of an arm 63 is rigidly fixed, the other end of said arm being connected with the hub 55! at a point radially spaced from the axis thereof by means of the pitman link 64. However, it will be understood that iridesired in place of the hub 59 and link $34 the conventional eccentric and strap connection with the arm 63 may be substituted.

It will, of course, be undestood that the machine is provided with the usual feed mechanism with which the presser foot 33 cooperates, to intermittently feed the material of the machine. The ruffiing blade 3| operates above the usual guide means for the base fabric and the material to be ruffled and successively feeds the ruffles beneath the front end of the presser foot to be stitched to the base material on the downstroke of the needle in the usual manner. The operation of the milling blade by means of the actuating mechanism above described, and the regulation and control thereof is substantially the same as explained in my issued Patent 2,245,877.

It will be seen from the foregoing that I have provided a rufiling attachment in which the protecting housing for the actuating mechanism has a single point mounting on the rear side of the sewing machine arm with the provision of means whereby bodily adjustment of said housing to position the rufiiing blade relative to the sewing machine presser foot may be easily and quickly made and said housing then rigidly looked in position with respect to the sewing machine arm, to thereby effectually prevent oscillatory vibration of said housing during the operation of the machine. It is also an important consideration in the use of such attachments in large quantity production establishments that the mounting of said attachment shall require no material mechanical alterations in the standard sewing machine. In the present instance, this requirement is met since I utilize the supporting means for the presser foot adjusting lever with which such machines are equipped for the purpose of mounting the attachment, the only additional part necessary being the somewhat longer attaching bolt 21 in place of the standard lever attaching bolt. It will also be seen that this mounting of the actuating mechanism and its housing upon the sewing machine arm has the further advantage, in that there is no projection beyond the end of the sewing machine arm 5 and the projection of the housing to position the milling blade in front of the needle bar is also reduced to a minimum. This permits of clear and unobstructed vision of the work as it is fed to the sewing machine presser foot by the operator.

From the foregoing description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, the construction, manner of operation and several advantages of the present invention will be clearly understood. It will be appreciated that the same embodies several important practical improvements over the disclosures contained in my issued patents which contribute to economical production, and increased eiiiciency in operation. I have herein illustrated and described an embodiment of the present invention which has given excellent results in practice. Nevertheless, it is to be understood that the same is susceptible of more or less modification in the form, construction and relative arrangement of the several cooperating elements. Therefore, the privilege is reserved of embodying the essential features of the present disclosure in such other alternative structural forms as may fairly be considered within the spirit and scope of the appended, claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a sewing machine arm and stitch forming mechanism mounted on one end thereof; a rufiling unit attachment including actuating mechanism for a movable ruffling blade and a housing therefor, said sewing machine arm being provided with a boss on the rear side thereof, a bracket member secured to the housing, a pivot bolt for supporting the presser foot adjusting lever detachably engaged through an opening in the bracket member and threaded in said boss and constituting the sole attaching and supporting means for said housing, said bracket member having a part extending transversely beneath the sewing machine arm, and means mounted on said part of the bracket member and adjustable relative thereto into bearing contact with the underside of the sewing machine arm to ri idlysecure the housing against oscillatory vibration relative to said pivot bolt.

2. In combination with a sewing machine arm and stitch forming mechanism on one end thereof; an accessory unit including a work engaging member, operating mechanism therefor, and a housing for said mechanism; means for pivotally mounting said unit at one side of the machine arm with said housing vertically positioned relative to said arm, said mounting means constituting the sole supporting means for said unit and comprising a stud bolt fixed to the machine arm and projecting transversely therefrom and a bracket fixed to said housing and mounted on said bolt to support said unit in a vertical plane substantially parallel with the path of movement of the Work to said stitch forming mechanism, and means for rockably adjusting said housing about the axis of the supporting bolt to transversely position said work engaging member with respect to the feed path of the work.

3. The combination defined in claim 2, in which said adjusting means comprises means mounted on said bracket and manually adjustable relative thereto into coacting relation with the machine arm to rigidly fix the housing in adjusted position relative thereto.

4. The combination defined in claim 2, in which said unit is mounted on the rear side of the machine arm and extends forwardly beneath the same, and said adjustable means comprises manually adjustable members carried by the housing and coacting with the under side of the machine arm.

5. The combination defined in claim 2, in which said unit extends above and below said stud bolt 5 and said supporting bracket is fixed to a side wall of the housing intermediate its ends.

VICTOR J. SIGODA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

